Tuesday News Brief

48-year-old James Briggs of Batavia has been arrested and charged with petit larceny. This followed an investigation of a theft complaint at Walmart. It’s alleged Briggs stole merchandise from the store and then passed all points of sale. He is scheduled to appear in Town of Batavia Court on April 9th. ALSO: 46-year-old Jennifer McCoy of Attica has been arrested. She’s charged with grand larceny and unlawful possession of personal identification information. The arrest occurred following investigation into an incident that previously occurred in Oakfield. It’s alleged that McCoy stole $2,800. She was issued an appearance ticket and is due back in Oakfield Town Court on May 6th. ALSO: 34-year-old Thomas Mitchell of Batavia has been arrested by Genesee County Sheriffs. He is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and operating a motor vehicle without inspection certificate. Thomas’s vehicle was stopped for traffic violations last Friday in Bergen. Following investigation, it’s alleged that he was in possession of a controlled substance. Thomas was released with an appearance ticket and scheduled to return to the Town of Bergen Court on April 10th.

 

The Buffalo Police Department has released more information on threats that were made against multiple schools in the city. A message claiming that schools would be shot up was posted on Instagram by a 15-year-old boy; the teen also allegedly created the post in an attempt to make it look like it was coming from someone who was being bullied. The boy has been arrested and officials don’t believe the threats were credible.

 

As has been the case for several weeks, the spread of the flu is still holding steady across our region. During the week ending March 16th, Erie County led the area in infections with 474; Monroe County had the next highest with 378. That was followed by Niagara County with 110, Chautauqua County had 77 and Genesee County reported 38. Since the beginning of flu season back in October, over 348,000 New Yorker State residents have tested positive for the illness.

 

State residents who don’t want to wait until April 2nd to cast their ballots in the presidential primary can now do so. The early voting period is currently open and will remain so through Saturday. Both President Biden and former President Donald Trump have already secured enough support to be their respective party’s nominees in November. Vote early at the ARC Community Center, 38 Woodrow Road, Batavia.

 

 

55-year-old Melanie Armstrong of Rochester has pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving national emergency benefits, filing false claims against a government agency, and transfer of a means of identification. Between July 2020 and August 2021, Armstrong falsely applied for and collected unemployment benefits while falsely representing that she had no other source of income. Armstrong also filed false tax returns with the IRS for herself along with family members and associates; claiming false and inflated wages and federal income tax withholdings. As a result, the IRS issued tax refunds to her and others totaling over $100,000. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

 

An investigation is still underway into what caused a serious crash in Monroe County. The collision happened yesterday in the area of Washington Street and Whittier Road in Ogden. Four people, including a six-month-old girl, were rushed to a nearby hospital and the child suffered life-threatening injuries. Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in this accident.

 

Several companies have been named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the families of the Tops mass shooting victims and have appealed a recent court ruling. Alphabet, which is the parent company of Google along with Amazon and Discord have each filed appeals. This comes one week after an Erie County Supreme Court judge ruled against the social media companies’ motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed against them in connection with the shooting. An attorney representing some of the 5/14 families said that an appellate court in Rochester will now review the decision.

 

The Niagara University women’s basketball team has had its season come to an end after a tough loss on the road. Angel Parker led the Purple Eagles with 22 points, but her squad still fell to the Vermont Catamounts 69 to 63 in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament last night. Aaliyah Parker was the second-leading scorer for Niagara with 12 points. The Purple Eagles finished the season with a record of 21 wins and 15 losses.

 

The Buffalo Sabres start a five-game home stand tomorrow evening; they’ll host the Ottawa Senators at KeyBank Center. Face-off is at 7:00. The Amerks travel to Syracuse for a game tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

ELSEWHERE…

New York officials are urging folks to prepare for a total solar eclipse that’s expected to happen in the state in a couple weeks. The eclipse on April 8th will be seen in 12 states. Officials are expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors to those areas and many events are planned. Special “I Love New York” eclipse glasses are being sold at a number of places throughout the state.

 

 

 

The FAA is warning of potential delays for commercial flights during next month’s total solar eclipse. The rare astronomical event will happen April 8th with the path of totality across a dozen states. Passengers can expect delays between April 7th and April 10th as people flock to the best areas to witness the eclipse.

 

 

New home sales dipped slightly in February as mortgage rates remain high. Figures from the Commerce Department show sales of new single-family homes slipped three-tenths of a percent below January’s revised annual rate of 664,000 units. That’s still nearly six percent above last year’s rate for February. The average price of a new home sold last month was $485,000.

A seventh grade math teacher and army veteran in Texas has changed his name to Literally Anybody Else, and is trying to get on the upcoming presidential ballot. The 35-year old from the Fort Worth area was born Dustin Ebey, but he successfully got a Tarrant County judge sign off on the name change. Mr. Else has already filed with the Federal Election Commission and is now working to get on state ballots as an independent candidate. He says he understands it’s a long shot to get on state ballots at this late of a date, but he hopes word will spread and voters will write him in come November. His campaign website is literallyanybodyelse.com.